


sweet tooth

by momsasuke



Series: naruto mall au [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Ice Cream, Ice Cream Parlors, Love Confessions, M/M, One Shot, Shopping Malls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 12:36:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17407028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/momsasuke/pseuds/momsasuke
Summary: While no one truly understands how Naruto managed to get Sasuke to work at Dippin' Dots with him, only one other person knows the origin of Sasuke's nickname: Dumpster Kisser.





	sweet tooth

**Author's Note:**

> (Note: They are 21 in this au)
> 
> This one-shot is set in a modern mall AU I am working on. More to come! I also have a full kankukiba fic set in this au ("tongue tied"). Enjoy!

In the 6 months that Naruto and Sasuke have worked at the Konoha mall Dippin’ Dots, two mysteries have arisen. How exactly Naruto managed to convince Sasuke to work at Dippin’ Dots is the first and biggest mystery of all. The two were best friends, but Sasuke tended to be curter and more reserved around Naruto. An outsider looking at the two interacting would think Sasuke despised his friend, which would make his decision to work side-by-side with the rambunctious blond confusing.

What customers and other mall employees don’t see are the times Sasuke walked Naruto home when Jiraiya, the manager at Spencer’s, was out sick. No one saw the time a flustered Naruto softly wept in the staff room because he forgot his visor for work, and when Sasuke gave Naruto his own and dealt with the wrath of their manager, Ebisu, for being out of uniform. He didn’t care; seeing Naruto’s tears pause as he looked up at Sasuke, dumbstruck until the act of kindness clicked in his head and he smiled from ear to ear, was enough for Sasuke. Without hesitation, Naruto leapt up and hugged Sasuke in thanks and it took Sasuke several minutes for his heart rate to rest back to baseline and for the burning flush at the tips of his ears to fade.

Naruto loved to tease Sasuke about the number of adoring customers that come in and fawn over him. Annoyed, Sasuke constantly reminds Naruto that he’s not interested in them and that he’d prefer if no customers came in at all. Naruto simply laughed at his coworker, “Sasuke, if no one came in, it would just be us hanging out!”

Not looking up, Sasuke stared intensely at the rainbow ice Dippin’ Dots. “Does that sound so bad?” His voice was quiet, barely audible above a mumble.

Naruto blinked a few times. There was something sincere in what Sasuke had just said, yet it was masked in a thin layer of annoyance as usual. Naruto smiled, trying not to read too into Sasuke’s words. “Well, no, but if we didn’t have any business, then we’d be fired and the shop would close down. I actually like the customers; it’s fun to see how excited people get about ice cream!”

Sasuke glanced up to see Naruto beaming. One thing he found both precious and frustrating is how positive Naruto managed to be, even when working at a minimum wage job at a mall. “Kinda like you and ramen, right?” Sasuke smirked.

 “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Naruto’s smile turned to a frown as he felt his stomach growl in frustration. As Sasuke moved to start wiping down the counters, Naruto grabbed his wrist. He snapped his head to look at Naruto with a puzzled complexion. “H-hey, Sasuke. Do you want to use our free weekly purchase and hang out after work?” A simple, innocent request but it was something they had never done. Sure, they would sometimes hang out with their other friends but in the six month of working there, they had never sat down after work with just the two of them.

Naruto could feel himself going red and yet he still held onto Sasuke’s wrist. Expecting an eye roll or a comment calling him a loser, Naruto almost didn’t hear Sasuke say yes.  
“I’ll be done closing up in about thirty minutes. Bring me a medium rainbow ice when I go to toss the trash and we can eat it by the loading dock.”

Naruto took a few seconds to register Sasuke’s words. The layer of annoyance in Sasuke’s voice was so thin, it was almost completely absent. After realizing he was just staring at Sasuke, Naruto nodded and released his grip on Sasuke’s wrist.

For the next thirty minutes, Naruto worked in silence with the quickened thumping of his heart ringing in his ears. He knew it was stupid, they were close friends after all, and there was nothing obviously romantic about eating free ice cream next to a dumpster. It wasn’t the act that Naruto was stuck on, but rather that Sasuke had suggested it. For the last six months of their employment at Dippin’ Dots and even past that, Naruto had felt like such a burden in Sasuke’s life. In other situations, Sasuke was incredibly selfish, but around Naruto he acted selfless and seemed to always put Naruto before himself. Naruto wasn’t good at math, but he was sure that Sasuke split their tips unevenly, giving Naruto 60% of the tips they were to divide between them. When he tried to bring it up to him, Sasuke just closed off and told Naruto to stop bothering him.

Promptly at 5:30pm, Naruto shut the storefront gate and locked it. He made two medium rainbow ice cups for the two of them and shut off the lights behind him. Walking through the staff room, he saw Sasuke tying the knot on the last bag of trash.

“You know, we could always eat this in here?” Naruto offered as Sasuke pulled the bag out of the trash can.

Without looking up, Sasuke replied, “The sun’s about to set. I would like to watch it with….” His sentence trailed off as he quickly gathered up the bags and carried them to the loading dock door.

Naruto felt Sasuke’s words hanging in the air. _Watch it….with me?_ With an unsteady hand and a rosy flush over his face, Naruto followed behind Sasuke with their ice cream.

With a heave, Sasuke tossed the trash bags into the dumpster. He wiped his hands on the sides of his black jeans and took his ice cream from Naruto. He walked forward to sit on the edge of the loading dock, which offered a view of the mall parking lot. Above the horizon, the sun was just a few minutes from starting to set. _Perfect, we just made it,_ Sasuke thought to himself.

Naruto took a spot to the right of him, sitting down hard on the concrete floor. As he sat, he kicked his dangling feet beneath him. The two ate their ice cream in a comfortable silence. Once they had finished, the sky started to become streaked with pink and orange rays. Naruto rested his hands on either side of him, and Sasuke did the same as they leaned back slightly to get a better view of the sky. Naruto couldn’t help but notice the minimal space between their fingertips. Sasuke removed his visor and ran his hand through his black hair. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto watched as the locks settled around Sasuke’s face, perfectly framing it. Sasuke, with a slight smile on his lips, caught Naruto staring.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Sasuke asked.

Naruto nearly choked on the air in his lungs. “W-what?!” He was sure he was blushing a deep maroon at this point.

Sasuke grinned, enjoying the sight of Naruto flustered. “The sunset?” He stated with a raised eyebrow. The sky was quickly forming a gradient of pink and purple tones in front of them.

Completely and utterly embarrassed, it took Naruto all the power he could muster to not try to physically kick himself. He rubbed the back of his neck and awkwardly laughed. “Oh, yes, of course. I thought you meant-“

Before Naruto could finish his sentence, his brain completely froze as Sasuke reached out and held Naruto’s hand in his own. Naruto’s mouth was slightly agape as he just stared at Sasuke’s hand enveloping his own. Sasuke’s cheeks were slightly flushed but he did not move his eyes from the sunset. Once he had regained some consciousness, Naruto felt Sasuke’s hand trembling as he held Naruto’s. He knew what this meant. For Sasuke to reach out with such boldness was a declaration of his affection for Naruto in his own way. Sasuke couldn’t say it, couldn’t even bring himself to write it out, but he was able to muster enough courage to hold Naruto’s hand. Naruto was sure the long silence between them was eating Sasuke alive, worrying that he had miscalculated or misjudged Naruto’s feelings.

It was as if Naruto’s heart was completely filled to the brim with love. A simple gesture, one hand holding another, but it meant so much more to the two of them. All the times Naruto feared he was holding Sasuke down or burdening him….he knew now that Sasuke acted so selfless to him because he cared for him. Naruto wanted to make sure Sasuke knew he cared about him just the same, but Naruto lacked the subtlety that Sasuke possessed.

With his other hand, Naruto reached out to turn Sasuke’s face towards him. He quickly closed the gap between them and planted a soft kiss on Sasuke’s lips. While Sasuke’s face was frozen in dumbstruck awe, his hand tightened its grip on Naruto’s.

“A-again.” Sasuke muttered. Naruto gave him a confused look. “K-kiss me again, you idiot.” Annoyance (and with that confidence) had slowly began to creep back into Sasuke’s voice.

Naruto laughed softly and happily did as he was asked. This time, the kiss lasted for a few seconds longer and Naruto was happy to feel Sasuke’s lips moving against his. Their lips tasted of sweet sherbet and Naruto fought back the urge to run his tongue over Sasuke’s bottom lip to further enjoy the flavor. When they pulled apart, Naruto tucked a strand of Sasuke’s hair behind his ears to see the tips of them burning brightly pink. It was something Naruto had failed to pick up on earlier, but he knew it would be one of his favorite things about Sasuke. Sasuke looked at Naruto with a shy smile on his lips, taking in Naruto’s face in an attempt to burn this moment in his permanent memory.

The romantic moment was abruptly interrupted by a forced cough coming from the dumpster behind them. Both of their heads snapped back to see Sai with his coat and car keys in his hand staring at them.

“Were you two just kissing?” Sai asked with a bluntness that cut like a knife.

Sasuke shot Naruto a look of pure terror. “N-no, we weren’t! We were just talking about our work schedules.” Sasuke voice was shaky and unconvincing.

Sai glanced at Naruto, knowing he was a notoriously bad liar. Sasuke stared at Naruto, fear running down his spine. He knew Naruto was overjoyed and that tended to send him into autopilot. To his surprise, Naruto simply shrugged, “You heard what he said.”

Sasuke released a clenched jaw. Sai not completely satisfied with Naruto’s lack of an answer, stared intently at the two before deciding to leave it a mystery. And thus began the second mystery about Naruto and Sasuke at the Konoha mall. Once Sai was out of the loading dock, Sasuke turned sheepishly to Naruto.

“Next time, let’s choose a more private spot. I don’t need this getting to my brother and his stupid co-workers. I will be called “Dumpster-Kisser” for eternity.” Sasuke stood up, dusting off his black pants.

Naruto stood up as well and grabbed Sasuke’s hand before he could turn to leave. With a smile, Naruto once again pulled Sasuke’s face to his own and kissed him. Despite his initial shock, Sasuke quickly met Naruto’s passion. Naruto was so completely intoxicated in the moment that he gave in to his desires and swiped his tongue along Sasuke’s lower lip, tasting the remains of the rainbow sherbet. Sasuke’s hand tightened in Naruto’s grip. Naruto finally pulled away, leaving Sasuke flustered and breathing heavily.

Naruto smiled and ran his thumb over Sasuke’s lips. “Next time, let’s try the cotton candy, Dumpster Kisser”


End file.
